Private Property
The sale of a family home causes some ugly truths to be uncovered in this drama from writer and director Joachim Lafosse. Pascale (Isabelle Huppert) is a middle-aged divorcée living in a restored farmhouse in the countryside with her twin sons, twentysomethings Francois and Thierry. After years of bickering with her ex-husband about the estate, Pascale has decided to sell the farmhouse with an eye toward opening a guest house in a resort community, but the twins are vehemently opposed to the idea. Pascale persuades her boyfriend to talk with Francois and Thierry in hopes of changing their mind, but the meeting does not go well and the twins inadvertently discover a long-held family secret that causes them to turn against Pascale, as well as one another. Also starring Jérémie Rénier and Yannick Renier as the twins, Nue-Propriété received its world premier at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. more..
Director: Joachim Lafosse
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Raphaëlle Lubansu, Jérémie Renier, Kris Cuppens, Delphine Bibet
An impeccably acted character drama revolving around a mother and her teenage twin sons, Private Property shows how strong and how terrifying the bonds within families can be. Directed by Belgium's Joachim Lafosse, it etches the line between love and hate with a savagery that is almost unprecedented.
What draws us into Private Property is how so many things happen under the surface, never commented upon.
Private Property embraces the banal and the monstrous, and affords Ms. Huppert opportunity to astonish rather than overwhelm.
Boasting a script so clear and airtight that shrinks could use it for family therapy courses, the sole caveat is the unrelenting unpleasantness of the stronger-willed son.
Huppert is, as usual, superb, proving yet again that she is the finest actress working in France today.
Joachim Lafosse
Venice Film Festival (2006)
No lists